Connections

Chapter 15





Harry moaned as the kiss deepened again. He shivered with pleasure as
he felt himself lifted off of the rock and onto Xander's lap. With a
shuddering moan he wrapped himself around Xander; he had never felt
such ragged emotions in his life. Despite the many people who had
been with him over the years, no one had inspired such want and need.
Nor had anyone ever inspired such affection.


Once again they had to pause to draw breath. Both of them sat staring
at one another and g asping for breath. There was something there, a
feeling that they hadn't explored or even admitted to. When they
kissed again, the heat and the passion was still there, but this time
it was tempered with tender exploration and slow, gliding hands.


Xander shivered against Harry and broke the kiss yet again. He was
about to suggest that they go back to the castle and take this to
another level. Unfortunately he never got the chance. Almost before
they could react, the area around them seemed to come alive with
magic. Xander and Harry drew apart, quickly got to their feet and
began running. Deatheaters swarmed out of the Forbidden Forest and
were close on their heels.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Spike and Severus were sitting side by side, speaking to the
Headmaster and to the older members of the California group. Suddenly
they both gasped at the same time . Everyone turned to look at them
and they were surprised to see Spike's eyes had changed to amber and
Severus was flushed. "Bloody ," ," Spike breathed out, a
distant look on his face.


Severus chuckled weakly, but he also had a distant look on his face.
The two men shifted in their seats and were beginning to wonder if
they wouldn't have to leave the meeting to avoid embarrassing
themselves, when panic and fear swept through their shared link.
Spike roared and jumped to his feet, closely followed by Severus. As
they were running out of the Headmaster's office, Severus shouted
back, "Deatheaters, they have come out of the forest and are
after Harry and Xander!"


The rest of the group jumped to their feet. Xander had only undergone
minimum training in the use of his magic and even Harry wasn't strong
enough to take on the Deatheaters by himself. They all ran through
the casle as though the hounds of hell were on the heels. By the time
they reached Harry a nd Xander the two young men were surrounded and
doing their best to defend themselves against the oncoming
Deatheaters. Draco and Mione were with them, along with Willow and
Tara. They were casting hexes against the Deatheaters. The six young
people were doing well for themselves, but it was obvious that they
were in great danger of being overrun and defeated.


One of the Deatheaters was able to get past the two nature witches
and lunge at Xander and Harry. Screams of terror and fright ripped
through the air as the Deatheater screamed out "Avada
Kedavra!" Xander, acting on instinct, spun Harry around and took
the spell himself. The next few seconds seemed to freeze in motion.
As the spell impacted with Xander they saw him shudder then
straighten. Xander then spun to face the Deatheater. He never
bothered to point his wand, Xander just lashed out with his fist and
struck the Deatheater so hard that the mask he wore shattered down
the center.


The others quickly subdued the rest of the Deatheaters, before
turning to face Harry and Xander again. Xander noticed them looking
at him and smiled. "That kinda tickled. Though it did piss me
off. I was in the middle of getting to know Harry better and they
interrupted. I thought the British were all about manners?" he
asked with a snicker.


"Xander!" was yelled from all around the clearing.



tbc......